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1980 : Born! This was a big day for me (obviously) as it was the day that brought my shining smiling face into the world. (Okay, enough cheeseball stuff here!)
Between 1980 and now (2001)
has been quite a whirlwind of events. Between birth, growing up (still in
progress mind you!), school and work, there's been all sorts of things that
have had quite the impact on my life. The most prominent to this day, and
probably for the rest of my life, will be in March, 2000. It was during this
month, in the midst of my sophomore year of college at California State University,
Monterey Bay, that I was diagnosed with having a condition known as Hodgkin's
Disease. Essentially, its a form of cancer that affects the lymphatic system
in the body. (The garbage service of the body for bacteria and other bad stuff
like that.) Anyway, I underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by a four
week vacation, only to be followed on the heels by another four weeks of radiation
therapy (5 days a week) in an attempt to beat down the illness. All seemed
well in September when my CT (Cat) scan results indicated that all looked
good.
From there
I went on a 6 month period of feeling good, recovering from the treatments
and thinking all was well from here on out. Until March (again!) of this year.
I went in to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) for
my 'routine' six month CT scan, and this time around the results left something
to be desired. It appeared that there was a new bit of growth in the chest
area where I'd had the mass a year before, and with this news came the pleasant
information that I now had to go through MORE chemotherapy and while I get
to skip out on the radiation this time, I'll be spending some time at Stanford
while they really knock it down! God willing, we'll get it this time!
And now, onto the story of my life (so far!) ...